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From SpaceNews.com: Rogozin says Crew Dragon safe for Russian cosmonauts
The head of Roscosmos says he is now satisfied that SpaceX's Crew Dragon is safe enough to carry Russian cosmonauts, clearing a major obstacle for an agreement to exchange seats between Soyuz and commercial crew vehicles.
[...] Rogozin and others at Roscosmos had previously said they needed more evidence that Crew Dragon was safe enough for Russian cosmonauts
[...] NASA has sought to barter seats to create "mixed crews" of at least one NASA astronaut and one Roscosmos cosmonaut on each mission. That would ensure both countries would have a presence on the station, and ability to maintain their separate systems, if either Soyuz or commercial crew vehicles are grounded for an extended period.
The earliest a Russian cosmonaut could fly on a Crew Dragon would be the Crew-5 mission in the second half of 2022. Similarly, the next time a NASA astronaut could fly on a Soyuz would be in the fall of 2022, since NASA has decided not to acquire a seat on the Soyuz MS-21 launching in March 2022.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday October 26 2021, @09:02PM (1 child)
American women are going to space. Russia can't act as if their cosmonauts are more delicate than American women.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday October 26 2021, @09:13PM
In fact, Musk sent a Democrat to space!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZJghIk7_VA [youtube.com]
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by mrchew1982 on Wednesday October 27 2021, @01:37AM (4 children)
NASA just put out a 30-day solicitation for options for more launches to the space station since Boeing has failed miserably, and I would bet that since SpaceX is the only company ready to deliver they will get the bid. I fully expect crew dragon launches to double next year.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday October 27 2021, @02:03AM (3 children)
That looks like a misread of the situation. They aren't necessarily doing it because Boeing failed miserably.
https://spacenews.com/nasa-starts-process-to-acquire-more-commercial-crew-missions/ [spacenews.com]
The ISS will be operational until at least 2030, so more flights need to be procured.
Boeing Starliner is hugely delayed, but the delays are tolerable as long as it flies astronauts eventually and SpaceX picks up the slack in the meantime. So don't be shocked if Boeing somehow gets contracted for more flights to add to their zero completed.
Best case scenario, Boeing gets nothing, SpaceX gets more flights, and maybe Sierra Space gets to send astronauts on Dream Chaser. But Boeing can argue that a human-rated Dream Chaser is too far from readiness.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday October 27 2021, @03:53AM (1 child)
You seem to be implying that you own stock in Boeing.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday October 27 2021, @11:04AM
It "pays" to be "pessimistic" about Boeing.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 27 2021, @05:27AM
Technically correct. Boeing's continuing miserable failure is what is forcing NASA's hand. Commercial Crew 1 is going to finish three years early because of Boeing's failure to deliver, and they can't guarantee that Starliner will be ready even then. That leaves the ISS with a long enough remaining operating life to justify funding a new entrant for backup vehicle.